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Trip To Lotte World Amusement Park
Every year the kids at the children's home are sponsored to go to an amusement park for one Saturday in May. This year was my SEVENTH trip with the kids to the park. There are now social workers at my home who are younger than the kids I spent my first amusement park trip with. Crazy!
Every year I make it a point to get at least one child to overcome their fears and ride a roller coaster for their first time. For me I was scared of heights as a kid and wasn't able to ride a roller coaster until I was in 8th grade. But once I finally took a ride I discovered heights weren't that bad and that I loved roller coasters. I also grew a lot more secure and confident in myself.
This year my target was Yong Shin, an 11th grade boy who has been terrified of roller coasters all his life. It took a lot of prodding because he had a lot of fear, but I finally got him to agree to one round of "Rock-Scissors-Paper." If I won then he would have to ride one time with me, and if he won then I wouldn't bother him any longer. And of course, I won. =)
Yong Shin was so nervous! Because we arrived at the park at 8am and some of the rides weren't open until 9:30, we had to wait a while and do more simple rides like bumper cars. Poor Yong Shin was a bit overwhelmed the whole time, but he kept his word and eventually went with me to the roller coaster. A bunch of the kids and a couple other dorm dads (social workers) ended up joining us. I sat next to Yong Shin and clapped and said "Yaaaay" the whole ride so that Yong Shin would relax. He was super tense at first, but as we went I could tell he was gradually loosening up. At the end he smiled and said, "So that's what a roller coaster feels like." He got out and excitedly talked with the other boys about the experience (it was a fast coaster). He was thankful for me pushing him so much and his demeanor as we enjoyed the rest of the day was completely different from his demeanor when we first entered the park.
With Yong Shin before the ride
With Soo Jeong and Hyun Hee... Soo Jeong, in 4th grade, was also riding the roller coaster for the first time^^
Hyun Woon dorm dad, Young Eun, Yoo Jin, and Sun Ran before the ride
With siblings Dal Woo and Soo Jin
Yo Han taking a picture of himself while waiting
With dorm dads Hyun Woon and Dong Min riding the "Gyro Drop" (100meters straight drop)
Doing sticker pictures with some of the girls... I would have never done this before I married my wife Sky
Some of the goofy wigs/hats
Jae
Dal Woo and Yoo Jin
With Young Eun and Yoo Jin
Riding the fake hot air balloon ride above the indoor part of the park with Young Eun and Hyun Woon dorm dad
The indoor portion of Lotte World, which is apparently the world's largest indoor theme park
Soo Jin posing
Yoo Jin posing
Blessings! =)
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Our Unknowingly Prophetic Acts...
A few years ago my prayer team leader who was serving with Campus Crusade here in Seoul got a cheap car for himself to get around in. I was in my second year of being a missionary here in Korea and I felt extremely tight with my money (too tight... there is a "practical" tight, and there is a "lack of faith" tight). But I lived on the outskirts of Seoul and my commutes by subway were typically 75-90 minutes, so after praying for a time I ended up getting a cheap car myself. Both of our cars were old and not in the best of shape, but they got us around. I even got the same model as his.
Later he became the pastor of my church and prayed for a new car because his was becoming too dangerous (same for mine). Through circumstances at the church he was able to get the exact car he had been praying for, a nice one! For me it took getting hit by a truck that totaled my car (not my fault and no long term injuries, thankfully) that made me get a new one. And this time around I wasn't cheap, but spent more of my support money to get a decent car with good gas mileage. It definitely isn't as nice as my pastor's car, but it's a whole lot better than my old piece of metal.
When my pastor got married he lived a decent three bedroom apartment that also doubled as the church office. It wasn't big, but it was relatively modern and was spacious compared to the tiny boxes a lot of people live in (as singles). I originally imagined myself getting married and continuing to live in my old, small apartment. But then my pastor, through prayer and the favor of God, was able to get a much bigger, nicer apartment. Seeing that, I received faith to believe God for a bit better. When I got married Sky and I, through prayer and favor, were able to get a nice, modern, 3 bedroom apartment similar to my pastor's first place when he got married, although perhaps a tad nicer. Sky would have been miserable in my old place. It was literally old, dark, and small. Not the place for newlyweds. But if I hadn't seen my pastor's faith in action and God's grace over him and his wife, I probably wouldn't have had the faith to get a nicer place.
God is revealing to me more and more how prophetic our acts are, particularly for those who are serving under us (or the children we are caring for). When one of my ministry's full time volunteers joined in 2008 we went over her budget together. I explained where her money should go to and different things she could expect. I remember she asked me, "Where do you budget for clothes?" and I told her, "In my three years I haven't bought any clothes" and just shrugged that question off. Clothes were never an interest of mine and I actually didn't buy any new clothes until my SIXTH year in Korea (when I began dating Sky, of course). And then I found out that same full time volunteer had not bought clothes for three years, and she is a woman! I felt so bad when I realized how by my actions I had put a wall up around her from feeling free to spend in that area. She felt it was just a price of being a missionary... wear your clothes until they are rags and someone gets you something. That had been my mindset before, and how poor of a mindset that was!
Our actions really are prophetic. If we are cheap, then those under us will be cheap. If we act in faith, then those under us will be released to act in faith. If we take care of ourselves, then those under us will also take care of themselves.
So I'm learning to take better care of myself and of Sky. I want the volunteers who serve with me to be well taken care of too. And I desire the same for the children in the orphanages.
God bless!
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Aligning Our Soul to Receive
Our soul is made up of our mind, will, and emotions. The mind is the lead member of the soul and it serves as the gateway to either the flesh or the spirit. For the person who aligns his soul with his flesh, he will become a fleshly person (living for his own desires and following his earthly emotions). For the person who aligns his soul with his spirit, he will be able to overcome his earthly emotions and focus on what is spiritual. Rather than finding satisfaction in the things of the world, the person is able to find satisfaction in the things of the Spirit.
This is why when a person is distraught, jealous, confused, scared, stressed, or has some other earthly emotion bothering them, they are unable to receive anything from the Spirit. They can't discern anything spiritual because their soul is aligned with their flesh and not with their spirit. Before they can receive from the Holy Spirit, they need to fix the issues that their soul is having. It's once their soul is set right that they are able to truly focus on the things of the Spirit and receive.
It is scientifically proven that thoughts don't come from emotions, but rather emotions come from thoughts. This goes to show how important it is to keep our souls in line with our spirit. To exhibit unhealthy emotions is to show that our soul is in an unhealthy state.
The greatest way to align our souls with the spirit is through reading the Word of God. It is the Word of God that is living and active, sharper than any double edge sword, and is able to circumcise our flesh so that we are set apart for the Lord.
All that I just shared were things I learned from Pastor Benjamin Robinson. They are all truths that can be found both in Scripture and through scientific studies on the power of our minds. They are some good things to meditate on in preparation of time with the Lord... may our souls be set in order so that we can receive all that God has for us in the Spirit! Amen!!!
Here is a link to a great message on this topic by Pastor Benjamin Robinson: http://livinghopecc.us/podcast/thesoul/
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